Silver Spring apartment fire displaces 100 residents

An electric socket near a bed sparked a mattress fire that caused 100 residents to have to leave their homes at an apartment building on Piney Branch Road in Silver Spring Tuesday night.

Montgomery County Fire and Rescue Service responded to the blaze at the Forest Park apartment complex in the 9300 block of Piney Branch Road about 3:45 p.m. Firefighters had to rescue residents from apartment balconies as the fire traveled up from the first to the fourth floor.

Firefighters from Prince George’s, Howard County and the District of Columbia assisted Montgomery County firefighters, and the fire was brought under control within two and a half hours, according to a blog posting on the Montgomery County Fire and Rescue Services website.

Seven residents were transported to the hospital for non-life-threatening injuries, according to a Tweet from fire services Assistant Chief Scott Graham. Three firefighters were also injured during the fire and taken for treatment at a local hospital. They also were described by Graham as having non-life-threatening injuries.

Graham estimated the damage from the fire at $1 million to the building and about $500,000 in loss contents from the homes.

The American Red Cross has set up temporary operations at the Long Branch Community Recreation Center on Piney Branch Road to assist residents displaced by the fire, according to David Salem, an employee with the county’s Department of Health and Human Services working at the community center on the effort.